Visual 'Jesse James' hits the shelves this week
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, February 03, 2008
If you haven't seen "Tootsie," you probably haven't seen one of the best comedies -- and best performances -- of the last 25 years.
Now available in a 25th anniversary edition (that's right), the charming romance shows what happens when a guy dresses up as a woman to get the girl. Dustin Hoffman should have won the Oscar for his work as a difficult actor forced to dress in drag to get a part on a soap. He falls for a costar (Jessica Lange) and learns plenty about himself in the process. Bill Murray and Teri Garr fill in the gaps and some of the best character actors give "Tootsie" its best laughs. Yup, that's Geena Davis in a supporting role, helping Hoffman get one of his best laughs of all.
The film may have a dated look, but the comedy is timeless. At some point, you'll actually believe there's a woman named Dorothy Michaels. Hoffman is phenomenal. Yet, Lange won the Oscar. Go figure.
If you're interested in more recent contenders, grab "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Cate Blanchett is nominated for the former, Casey Affleck is the standard bearer for the latter.
As Ford, the 20-year-old who idolized James, Affleck so creepy you can't stop watching him. Like a stalker, he knows far too much about the legendary Old West robber. He even has a list of comparisons that strikes everyone -- the paranoid James included -- as odd.
Naturally, he gets a chance to join the James gang on its last heist. He's thrilled beyond belief. He's also uncertain what the proximity will portend.
Jesse's brother Frank (Sam Shepard) has his number immediately. But Frank is at odds with Jesse (Brad Pitt), so he doesn't say anything. Instead, James has to learn the hard way -- at home while dusting a picture.
Writer/director Andrew Dominik does much with visuals. He fills his frames with saturated colors and Wyeth-like pictures. At times, scenes are fuzzy around the edges, forcing us to focus on the action in the middle.
"Assassination," though, isn't bursting with typical western shoot-outs. Clocking in at nearly three hours, it takes too much time to cut to the chase.
James -- a man who trusts no one -- stays ahead of his captors but can't get over the idea that his own friends may be his biggest enemies. A gun is always at his disposal; sleep is never sound.
Pitt is believable as the 19th century equivalent of a rock star but doesn't incorporate many of the tics described in the narration. Instead, he finds a weary demeanor that works well in just about every situation. When he's skeptical of his men's intentions, he doesn't give them the benefit of the doubt. He kills them. The dread that fills them is intense; the performances even more so.
Still, a good Sam Rockwell and a better Paul Schneider can't steal the focus from Affleck. If the real Ford wasn't this way, he should have been. Affleck gives him plenty of justification and a whole lot of desire.
"The Assassination of Jesse James" doesn't polish the gunslinger's legend. It tells some very cold, cruel facts. Had this been the story of a presidential assassin, it might be too hard to take. As a look at a pulp fiction hero, it's just right.
Also: 'Feast of Love'
If you haven't had much sadness in your life lately, dine on "Feast of Love."
A guaranteed downer, the Robert Benton film follows a fairly nice coffee shop owner (Greg Kinnear) as he tries to make sense of a life that includes adultery (his first wife's and his second wife's), death, birth and a pretty cute dog.
The sadness is so overwhelming only Morgan Freeman (as a voice of reason) can make sense of it all. He's a kindly college professor coping with his own loss. To find peace, he drinks coffee at Kinnear's shop and watches as a barista falls for a waitress and Kinnear's wife falls for a fellow athlete. He dispenses plenty of wise words, too, but it's Kinnear's search that eats at "Feast."
When his first wife leaves (rather abruptly, too), he takes up with a real estate agent (Radha Mitchell) and thinks he's in a relationship that will last. Unfortunately, she's still catting with a cad (Billy Burke) who doesn't plan to leave his wife. When he discovers the truth, Kinnear takes drastic action (punctuating it with a pretty good line) and winds up in the hospital. There, he meets a third woman who could be The One.
Benton weaves that love story with one between two twentysomethings (Alexa Davalos and Toby Hemingway). The young lovers' lives seem more hopeful but an evil father (Fred Ward) waits in the wings. Meanwhile, Jane Alexander turns up as Freeman's wife -- an old soul who tries to counsel everyone.
The cast is solid. The direction is pretty good. But the story is so depressing you'll wonder why anyone wanted to film it. Based on Charles Baxter's book, it has hints of good writing but huge chunks of pretense. Freeman tempers them but he's not around enough to warrant the top billing he's given.
Interestingly, Benton has included a song from "Once" to underscore a particularly poignant scene. Considering that film was released earlier this year, it seems like a studio ploy to push the tune for Best Song. If that's true, execs probably figured "Feast" was such a lost cause they'd save some money and play a mindgame or two with Academy voters. Instead, it leaps out, reminding us just how much better "Once" is.
Now available in a 25th anniversary edition (that's right), the charming romance shows what happens when a guy dresses up as a woman to get the girl. Dustin Hoffman should have won the Oscar for his work as a difficult actor forced to dress in drag to get a part on a soap. He falls for a costar (Jessica Lange) and learns plenty about himself in the process. Bill Murray and Teri Garr fill in the gaps and some of the best character actors give "Tootsie" its best laughs. Yup, that's Geena Davis in a supporting role, helping Hoffman get one of his best laughs of all.
The film may have a dated look, but the comedy is timeless. At some point, you'll actually believe there's a woman named Dorothy Michaels. Hoffman is phenomenal. Yet, Lange won the Oscar. Go figure.
If you're interested in more recent contenders, grab "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Cate Blanchett is nominated for the former, Casey Affleck is the standard bearer for the latter.
As Ford, the 20-year-old who idolized James, Affleck so creepy you can't stop watching him. Like a stalker, he knows far too much about the legendary Old West robber. He even has a list of comparisons that strikes everyone -- the paranoid James included -- as odd.
Naturally, he gets a chance to join the James gang on its last heist. He's thrilled beyond belief. He's also uncertain what the proximity will portend.
Jesse's brother Frank (Sam Shepard) has his number immediately. But Frank is at odds with Jesse (Brad Pitt), so he doesn't say anything. Instead, James has to learn the hard way -- at home while dusting a picture.
Writer/director Andrew Dominik does much with visuals. He fills his frames with saturated colors and Wyeth-like pictures. At times, scenes are fuzzy around the edges, forcing us to focus on the action in the middle.
"Assassination," though, isn't bursting with typical western shoot-outs. Clocking in at nearly three hours, it takes too much time to cut to the chase.
James -- a man who trusts no one -- stays ahead of his captors but can't get over the idea that his own friends may be his biggest enemies. A gun is always at his disposal; sleep is never sound.
Pitt is believable as the 19th century equivalent of a rock star but doesn't incorporate many of the tics described in the narration. Instead, he finds a weary demeanor that works well in just about every situation. When he's skeptical of his men's intentions, he doesn't give them the benefit of the doubt. He kills them. The dread that fills them is intense; the performances even more so.
Still, a good Sam Rockwell and a better Paul Schneider can't steal the focus from Affleck. If the real Ford wasn't this way, he should have been. Affleck gives him plenty of justification and a whole lot of desire.
"The Assassination of Jesse James" doesn't polish the gunslinger's legend. It tells some very cold, cruel facts. Had this been the story of a presidential assassin, it might be too hard to take. As a look at a pulp fiction hero, it's just right.
Also: 'Feast of Love'
If you haven't had much sadness in your life lately, dine on "Feast of Love."
A guaranteed downer, the Robert Benton film follows a fairly nice coffee shop owner (Greg Kinnear) as he tries to make sense of a life that includes adultery (his first wife's and his second wife's), death, birth and a pretty cute dog.
The sadness is so overwhelming only Morgan Freeman (as a voice of reason) can make sense of it all. He's a kindly college professor coping with his own loss. To find peace, he drinks coffee at Kinnear's shop and watches as a barista falls for a waitress and Kinnear's wife falls for a fellow athlete. He dispenses plenty of wise words, too, but it's Kinnear's search that eats at "Feast."
When his first wife leaves (rather abruptly, too), he takes up with a real estate agent (Radha Mitchell) and thinks he's in a relationship that will last. Unfortunately, she's still catting with a cad (Billy Burke) who doesn't plan to leave his wife. When he discovers the truth, Kinnear takes drastic action (punctuating it with a pretty good line) and winds up in the hospital. There, he meets a third woman who could be The One.
Benton weaves that love story with one between two twentysomethings (Alexa Davalos and Toby Hemingway). The young lovers' lives seem more hopeful but an evil father (Fred Ward) waits in the wings. Meanwhile, Jane Alexander turns up as Freeman's wife -- an old soul who tries to counsel everyone.
The cast is solid. The direction is pretty good. But the story is so depressing you'll wonder why anyone wanted to film it. Based on Charles Baxter's book, it has hints of good writing but huge chunks of pretense. Freeman tempers them but he's not around enough to warrant the top billing he's given.
Interestingly, Benton has included a song from "Once" to underscore a particularly poignant scene. Considering that film was released earlier this year, it seems like a studio ploy to push the tune for Best Song. If that's true, execs probably figured "Feast" was such a lost cause they'd save some money and play a mindgame or two with Academy voters. Instead, it leaps out, reminding us just how much better "Once" is.
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